The Creative Units project at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, a department of Aberystwyth University, has won a major award in the annual Civic Trust Awards, which took place on 12th March at St George’s Hall in Liverpool. The award comes nearly 40 years after the venue first won a Civic Trust award for its main buildings – a nice case of history repeating itself, and also demonstrating the continuing commitment to excellence in architecture.
The awards are given to projects that are culturally, socially or economically beneficial, and make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the built environment. Over 50 projects from the UK, Ireland and Spain were recognised by the prestigious Civic Trust Awards, selected from over 330 entries. The Creative Units project, which was designed by award winning Heatherwick Studio, was the only Wales based project to be shortlisted this year and therefore the only Welsh winner.
Arts Centre Director, Alan Hewson, who attended the award ceremony to collect the impressive plaque in person said ‘It is fantastic that the Creative Units have won such a prestigious national award against such tough competition from buildings from UK, Ireland and Europe. It is a credit to everyone who has worked on the project, from the inspirational designs from Thomas Heatherwick and his team, the project management team and the support of all our funders, each partner in the scheme made an invaluable contribution to providing what that the Civic Trust refers to in the awards as “an inspirational setting for artists and enterprises.” ‘
The Creative Units project was designed to develop Aberystwyth Arts Centre’s role as a creative hub for arts businesses, arts development agencies, artists and craft workers. The mix of artists and arts businesses is a unique feature of this development with both new and established occupants interacting together in a creative and stimulating environment to realise their economic and creative potential.
The project also link into the University’s Commercialisation Unit and Spinout Scheme and the Welsh Assembly’s strategy to prioritise development of the creative industry sector. The project, worth £1.4 million, was made possible by support from Aberystwyth University, the Arts Council of Wales Lottery Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government. All the units are fully occupied with a range of new and established creative business, working in fields that include TV, music and Digital production, book publishing, and professional visual artists, including the Arts Centre’s Artists in Residence project. With their distinctive ‘crinkled steel’ finish their unique look has proved to be a real draw for creative companies looking for an equally creative base.
As well as the innovative Creative Arts Units, other award winners included the Liverpool One Masterplan, the restoration of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square London, landmark sculpture Dream, sited on a former colliery in St Helens and a new winery facility for Bodegas Protos in northern Spain. A full list of winners is available on the Civic Trust website www.civictrustawards.org.uk where the 2010 Awards Brochure is also available to download.
Civic Trust Awards Managing Director, Malcolm Hankey said “we were delighted to see such a diverse range of projects submitted for consideration. The Civic Trust Awards celebrate not only design excellence, but also the relationship between structures, places, the environment and local communities. This year’s group of winners successfully illustrate how this relationship can produce effective and imaginative solutions.”
